Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-07-09
IN WAR PAINT AND FEATHERS.
American Indians who Still Live I'm q
Savage State.

American Indians who sim Live I'm .
Savage State.
1HR ExPERIRNCEs or ran NORTHWEST uprAN CON-
MIssIoN-TRrBEs THAT HAVE LITTLE OF cIvnIzA-
TON EXCEPT wHIskY-THB ROMANCE OF THE SONS
OF THE FOREST.
The commissioners who went out to make
treaties with the Northwest Indians about year
ago, and recently submitted their last report to
the Interior Department, had an interesting expe-
rfence among these savages who are the most
remote and come nearer preserving the traditional
Indian character than any now extant. Some OF
the tribes along the borders of Minnesota, Mon
tana, Dakota, Idaho, and Washington Territory
are as savage as their ancestors OF q hundred
years ago. They have hidden themselves away In
the inaccessible wilderness, out of the reach of
civilization, and maintain ali the ancient savage
customs OF dressing with skins Of animals,
feathers, and paint, feeding on 1sh and game, and
conducting wars with each other. They are about
the only specimens Of the entirely savage Indians
0S1er cndsrs IN the same region have
lngton Territory are the most savage.
LIKE NEW COUNTRY.
ut was like exploring new country" said
Judge Wright, the chairman Of the commission,
talking over his trip with STAR reporter. ''some
| abodes can be reached only by the aid Of Indian
guides. These Indians can travel anywhere
through painless forests, which would be tmpene-
trees and the elevations just as you know the
streets in Washington, and they can describe
to each other 20 that they can under
depths of the wilderness as trackess the ocean.
One Indian can tell another at just what tree in
the other can 60 and ind 1t, though it may be a
hundred miles away. They traverse the forests
and seem to know by instinct just where they
tribes are as uncivilzed as those of whom Cooper
wrote. Some of the tribes about the groups Of
small lakes that form the tie Of the
by means OF birch-bark canoes. We Travelled for
goo miles In these frail crafts. through most
beautiful and
WILDLY ROMANTIC REGION.
''fhe Indians were our guides and they alone
could transport us. The largest Of the lakes are
probably twenty miles wide by thirty long, and
they are strung together by the winding thread
OF the Mississippi before it starts on its bold
the forests, and sometimes they are very rough.
When storms occurred 1t was impossible to go
upon them In the canoes. We travelled In true
savage and they were managed with great skill.
Three were the most that could go in one canoe,
ana we nad to sit nat on the bottom The In
when they took them from the water. We landed
lor our meals and camped In the forests at the
filled with game and the waters with the finest
nsh. There were seventeen in the party guides and
all, ana the Indians would catch enough fish
as we moved along so that we would have all we
could eat for dinner. Some of the party would 90
on shore and shoot game. One Indian alone in his
ducks on the lake. He Would paddle up and shoot,
derful shot. We used to count the reports Of his
had something for every shot. One day we counted
sixteen shots, and he brought back fifteen ducks.
were to furnish US with food and transportatoG;
and the game they killed furnished US with fresh
food.
MEETINGS WITH THE INDIANS.
'In some Of the canoes was distributed our lug
gage, while others carried the passengers, and we
had runners who went very rapidly in advance
OF US to assemble the tribes we wished to consult
with. We would land at certain places, where the
Indians would meet US by appointment. Some OF
fashion in the woods, on the shores OF the lakes,
and the pipes would be passed round, and the
would a. make TAX Long generally
assembled there to confer with US. These missions
are the work Of the Catholic priests and Sisters,
reached a degree OF civilization. About the mis-.
sOns they generally wear short hair and civilized
dress. and are more or less thrifty.
INDIANS WITH BRASS BAND.
''There was one tribe in particular" continued
the judge "that surprised us by their advance
ment. The chief and number of warriors rode
down at great speed to meet us, discharging their
W1nchesters as they came Here they dismOunted
and shook hands, and the warriors acted as an
escort OF honor. While we were talking with
them there burst upon us the sound Of Hail
Columbia and then THE Star Spangled Banner
6y oand YOU our
region. The music was by band OF Indian boys.
At the schools the Indian boys and girls taught by
as our children Of the same ne age lat at
the public schools In the large cities.
We were given permission to examine them in our
great credit. Some OF the Indians we found
thrifty and with good homes and signs of indus
dry fea os1
utterly without civilization, and 1t would have
been dangerous to have gone among them had
met us dressed in their wild native costumes
breech-cloutS and trlnkets feathers in their hair
and their faces painted, some one color all over,
some half blue. half yellow, and some striped red
yellow, and blue.
SENTIMENT AND F1RE-wAFER.
'They possessed" said the judge, "that wild
savage romance, and gave US long harangues
about the graves OF their forefathers. The more
savage, filthy, and degraded they were the more
with them were long and tedious The great
trouble with them is whisky. You can get along
with a sober Indian. but when he Is drunk he is a
wild beast; he will do anything. 1t is against the
law to sell liquor to them. but white men buy it
19r them ana make Large RI9t by the transaction
Indians find It. They have a certain code OF
honor which they maintain with great stoiclsnn.
You could neither brtbe or threaten one
of those Indians to make him tel on anyone who
sold him whisky. He will swear that he found it,
or else maintain stubborn silence. No court can
force him to give testimony. The savage tribes
have way OF wearing q feather in their heads to
mark each enemy they have killed and no Indian
will ever add a feather he has not won
The Commission met first in st. Paul in August,
1886, and from that time until this spring we
travelled among all the Indians in that region We
consulted with 81 bands in Minnesota and the
Territories along the Northern border Much Of
the time we slept on the ground without even the
covering OF a tent. In the winter we had pretty
hard time. We travelled for 500 miles In open
sleighs over vast plains OF snow, with the Their
moIneter ranging from 80 to 90 degrees below zero
AT Miles City 1t was 81 below and at Fort Shaw
1t was over 60 below Zero
The Archefs.
THE PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL MEETING no RE-
HELD IN THIS CITY.
The Potomac ArcherS ara nractfctno dilinnnflx